Thursday, May 11, 2017

Mosul Campaign Day 205-206 May 9-10 2017

The Iraqi forces (ISF) moved further into northwest Mosul. On
May 9, the Tammuz
30 neighborhood was freed, while the Harmat 2 and 3, and July
17 areas were under attack. On May 10, Harmat
3 and Maamil
were liberated, and Islah al-Zirahi and Hawi Kanisa
were assaulted. General Mahdi Abbas Abdallah of the Rapid Reaction Division said
that Islamic State fighters were attempting to flee the city. On the other
hand, the Army Chief of Staff General Othman al-Ghanami predicted that the
Mosul campaign would be over before the start of Ramadan. Starting in March the
battle reached a turning point. While the Golden Division was pushing through
the center of West Mosul, the Interior Ministry’s forces were stuck in the Old
City with no real movement. That forced a change in strategy with the army’s 9th
Division backed by police units entering the northern section of the city. That
was supposed to happen much earlier, but the Iraqis still have problems
coordinating all their forces due to the multiple commands they operate under. The
Islamic State had no real defenses in the north allowing the new line of attack
to quickly advance. Now the north is largely freed and that front has connected
with the Golden Division that has taken the center. Together they are now
moving towards the Tigris River to take the last section of West Mosul in the
east. Mosul has been the most intense urban warfare the government forces have
faced, and it will be their largest victory as well when it’s all over.

The new offensive is increasing the number of people flowing
out of Mosul. Over 24,000
people arrived at Hamam al-Alil south of the city from May 5-8. The United
Nations opened
a new displacement called Hasansham U2. The first busload of people arrived there
on May 8. This will supplement the Hamam al-Alil 2 camp that was opened in
April and is already almost full. Because most of the camps south of Mosul are
at capacity or overflowing many people are now moving
to east Mosul after being checked in at Hamam al-Alil. The first large group of
people, approximately 1,800, were also taken back to west Mosul. Since the
battle in Mosul has picked back up in May the number of people fleeing the city
has increased, and reversed April’s trend of more people leaving camps then
arriving. The trend often fluctuates back and forth depending upon the
intensity of the fighting inside the city.

2 comments:

One question I always had while looking at these maps is regarding the northeastern area of West Mosul. and why it's the only one with a picture in it (a building and some palm trees). Well, more of a curiosity than a question really, but why does it stand apart? Is it special in any way?

About Me

Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. I have written for the Jamestown Foundation, Tom Ricks’ Best Defense at Foreign Policy and the Daily Beast, and was responsible for a chapter in the book Volatile Landscape: Iraq And Its Insurgent Movements. My work has been published in Iraq via NRT, AK News, Al-Mada, Sotaliraq, All Iraq News, and Ur News all in Iraq. I was interviewed on BBC Radio 5, Radio Sputnik, CCTV and TRT World News TV, and have appeared in CNN, the Christian Science Monitor, The National, Columbia Journalism Review, Mother Jones, PBS’ Frontline, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Institute for the Study of War, Radio Free Iraq, Rudaw, and others. I have also been cited in Iraq From war To A New Authoritarianism by Toby Dodge, Imagining the Nation Nationalism, Sectarianism and Socio-Political Conflict in Iraq by Harith al-Qarawee, ISIS Inside the Army of Terror by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassahn, The Rise of the Islamic State by Patrick Cocburn, and others. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com